ITIF sees broadband job growth in stimulus plan

The Information Technology and Innovation Foundation is set to release a report today that looks more closely at the possible benefits of an economic stimulus plan on the broadband and IT industries. The report, called, "The Digital Road to Recovery: A Stimulus Plan to Create Jobs, Boost Productivity and Revitalize America," suggests that both sectors could benefit in job growth. While telecom companies have been cutting jobs like crazy lately, carriers making these moves have sought to protect their broadband projects from such cuts mostly. The ITIF report, according to BusinessWeek, says that if the planned stimulus package sets aside "$10 billion of investment in one year in broadband networks," it could be enough to support more than a half-million new U.S. jobs for that year.

Other industries may argue that they need stimulus funds more than the broadband sector, but ongoing bandwidth demand likely will help the broadband sector stay high up on the stimulus list if the government adopts a "feed the strong" mentality. Though some people also might argue that allowing the strong to feed themselves well is part of what made the current economic mess a bit more shameful.

For more:
- BusinessWeek has this viewpoint

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